Localism

Memorandum from the Mayor of London and London Assembly (LOCO 96)

The Mayor of London and London Assembly welcome the Committee’s inquiry into Localism and the opportunity to submit a short memorandum outlining their proposals for devolution in the capital.

The Mayoral model of government, with a strong Mayor and scrutinising Assembly, has been a success for London. Through democratic debate and a clear electoral mandate, it has given the city the leadership it needs in key policy areas such as transport infrastructure, policing, affordable housing, opportunities for children and young people and environmental improvements. While the Mayoralty has proved itself to be a mature, democratically legitimate institution and has substantial informal powers, outside of transport and policing, its formal powers are however, minimal. The Greater London Authority is highly dependent on national government and the current London settlement falls well short of the city government arrangements in place in other world cities, such as New York and Tokyo.

London’s devolution settlement remains weak and there is much room for improvement, particularly in ensuring that we see decisions taken by the local communities they will affect. Following the election of the government pledging further devolution, the Mayor, London Assembly and London Councils wrote jointly to the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, Rt Hon Eric Pickles MP, on 23 July 2010 setting out our proposals for further devolution in London (a copy of the letter is attached). Our proposals would further strengthen the roles of the Mayor and Assembly, resulting in clearer lines of accountability for public services and investment in London, as well as significant efficiencies in service delivery.

The key features of devolution in London, as elsewhere, should be that people can clearly identify who is responsible for what, and that the allocation of responsibilities between national, regional and local government should make sense to people; responsibility and accountability should reside at the level appropriate to the function in question. There must also be effective arrangements in place to provide transparency and accountability to the public, recognising that these are integral elements of effective public services. That is why our package of proposals includes new responsibilities for the Mayor and local authorities, and strengthened powers for the London Assembly to hold the Mayor to account.

The Mayor’s key proposals are for devolution of responsibilities and accountability for investment in housing, regeneration and the Olympic legacy. The Assembly’s key proposals are intended to strengthen the transparency and accountability of the Mayoralty and the GLA group of organisations.

As you will see from the attached letter, there is broad agreement in most areas. This is based on our shared commitment to the effective devolution of more responsibility and accountability to London regional and local government, with transparency and accountability built in to the system. We also agree that greater devolution to the Mayor should be accompanied by greater devolution to the London boroughs, in line with the principles of ‘double devolution’.

We trust this submission will be of assistance to the Committee. Also enclosed for further information is a copy of the ‘Mayor of London’s Proposals for Devolution’, which was published on 15 June and set out the Mayor’s plans for a better focused Greater London Authority (GLA) group with greater powers and more accountability. A copy can be found at: http://www.london.gov.uk/sites/default/files/proposals-for-devolution.pdf.

Briefings on the Assembly’s proposals for transparency and accountability can also be found at http://www.london.gov.uk/sites/default/files/Assembly%20proposals%20on%20devolution_0.pdf

If the Committee requires any further information we would of course be happy to provide it.

October 2010